Sorry I didn't do all of the battles friends; I thought this update would be enough to suffice everyone for at least a little while. I apologize. I have not been able to update for a while; finals are this week and I have several AP classes that I needed to study for. Hope you all don't mind the slight delay in updating. I'll update probably this upcoming weekend.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter 13: The Chuunin Exams part 3
"I'm worried about her," Sasuke commented quietly as the tower appeared in their view.
"You're not the only one," Naruto commented with a sigh. "You're not the only one."
Sakura leaned against Naruto as team seven stood in front of a door. The door had a seal on it. Sasuke placed his hand on the seal, dispelled it, and the team entered.
They had arrived at the tower a short few minutes ago, and had been directed to the door by a proctor.
"You doin alright, Sakura-Chan?" Naruto asked as he looked toward Sakura.
"I'm fine, Naruto," Sakura said with a sigh. She placed a glowing green hand to her neck. "I'm just very tired."
"Hn," Sasuke nodded toward a painting inside the room. The group glanced up toward it; Sakura brought out both scrolls.
"I think we should open them," Sakura said while motioning to the scrolls. Naruto nodded enthusiastically.
"I agree with Sakura-Chan," Naruto said. He walked over to Sakura and grabbed one of the scrolls.
"I'll open the other one," Sasuke muttered as he grabbed the other scroll.
"We should open them together," Sakura said while reading the old painting. "Heaven and Earth; Body and Soul. The two must coexist together in harmony for one to be at true equilibrium."
"I'm opening the scroll now…" Naruto said while opening the first scroll. Sasuke stood next to him and opened the other scroll.
Smoke appeared from the two scrolls as Naruto and Sasuke threw them on the ground.
"Yo," Kakashi said with a wave as he appeared from the scrolls with a loud pop.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled as he hugged the gray haired teacher. "I've missed you so much! You can't believe what we've been through! In the forest this strange snake-guy came and attacked me, Sasuke, and Sakura-Chan!"
"What?" Kakashi asked as he looked toward his team. Sakura shifted her weight on Naruto's shoulder; her hand shifted to cover the mark on her neck. Sasuke leaned his neck to one side.
"Sasuke," Kakashi said with a slight tone. He glanced toward Sasuke; Sasuke looked toward the ground. Kakashi then glanced toward Sakura; Sakura started straight back into Kakashi's eyes. "Sakura. Hall. Now."
Sakura slowly shifted herself away from Naruto, and leaned her weight onto one foot. Sighing deeply, she slowly walked her way out of the room; Kakashi followed silently.
As soon as Kakashi shut the door behind him, he had Sakura pinned up against the wall. "What happened?"
Sakura stared into Kakashi's eyes; his Sharingan was uncovered. "…Nothing happened."
"What happened Sakura?" Kakashi asked while his glare lessened. His hands were placed on both sides of her head, while his body was getting dangerously closer to hers. "I know something did… Naruto was talking about Orochimaru, wasn't he?"
Kakashi felt Sakura flinch as he said Orochimaru's name; Kakashi's gaze softened, and one of his hands slowly went to play with one of Sakura's pink locks of hair. "Tell the truth Sakura; You know I know when you're lying."
"He… he bit my neck," Sakura said while slowly lifting her neck. Kakashi's hand slowly dropped down to Sakura's collar, and pulled it down.
He lightly gasped seeing the cursed mark there. "And Naruto and Sasuke?"
"I'm not one hundred percent certain," Sakura mumbled while she looked away.
"I'm withdrawing you all from the exams," Kakashi said as he backed away from Sakura. He placed a hand to his head and sighed. "You three should definitely not be fighting in your conditions… I don't even know what your conditions are!"
"…If anything happens you can withdraw us," Sakura said while staring pleadingly into Kakashi's eyes. "I will not allow you to stop Naruto or Sasuke's dream because of something like this."
"I am your Sensei, Sakura," Kakashi said in a stern voice. "And this isn't something that can be taken lightly. A legendary Sanin is after you…"
"Just trust us, Kakashi," Sakura said with a tired glare. "If I push myself too far you may throw in the towel, but not until then. This is our future at stake; the future of all of Team Seven."
"I'm tired of fighting with you Sakura," Kakashi said as he leaned against the wall opposite of Sakura's. "Fine, you win. If anything, anything at all happens, you will quit the exams."
"Agreed," Sakura nodded. She then started to walk back to the room where Naruto and Sasuke were; Kakashi's hand prevented her from going any further.
"I will deal with that seal mark after the next exams; I assume Sasuke has one too." Kakashi said while he placed a hand on Sakura's neck. Sakura flinched away from his touch in pain. "Get going… you all only have a day to rest."
"Thank you, Kakashi," Sakura said quietly as she walked to the door. She opened it, and walked through, shutting it tightly behind her.
Kakashi's eyes followed her; once she closed the door, he slumped against the wall. "What are you getting yourself into, Kakashi?"
---
Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke all stood in a line in front of the Hokage. Beside their team stood the remaining teams from the exams. There was Rock Lee's team, Ino's team, Hinata's team, Gaara's team, and the Sound team; all in all there were 18 shinobi left.
"Congratulations on passing!" Their purple haired proctor Anko stated while standing next to the Hokage. Behind the Hokage, all of the genin squad sensei's stood; Kakashi looked a bit more nervous than the rest of them did.
"I figured I'd cut your numbers in half… but I really was expecting single digits... Hokage-sama will explain the preliminary round; listen carefully." Anko stated with a glare.
"The preliminaries will consist of one on one fighting. You will basically fight as if in a real life confrontation," Sarutobi stated with a slight smile. A man with brown hair and pale white skin appeared beside him. "There are basically no rules. The fight continues until one of you dies or is knocked out. It will also end if one of you reaches your limits. This is Hayate; he will be your proctor for this preliminary round."
"Your matches will show up on this electric score board," Hayate said between coughs. "Now lets begin."
Sakura glanced up to the electronic board; it was very large. Her eyes widened as names began flashing before the screen. Sakura blinked, and two names appeared on the screen.
"Sasuke Uchiha," Hayate said. "And Choji Akimichi."
Sasuke smirked as his eyes wandered over to the overly large boy. "Should be easy enough," Sasuke stated.
"Be careful," Sakura said while grabbing Sasuke's hand. She glanced into his eyes. "If anything acts up Kakashi will disqualify us."
"Nothing will go wrong," Sasuke said while breaking away from Sakura's grip. He watched as she and Naruto walked up the stairs to stand next to Kakashi; the teams were suppose to stand on the sidelines and watch the battles.
"Not good," Choji stated as he stood a few yards away from Sasuke. "Not good, not good, not good."
"If you're both ready," Hayate stated. "Then we can begin."
"Ah!" Choji squeaked and placed his hands over his head; Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Don't hurt me!"
"…Are you seriously a ninja?" Naruto commented from the balcony.
"I'll buy you food if you fight, Choji!" Asuma, Choji's sensei, stated.
Choji smirked and brought his hands to a fighting position. "Ah ha! For food I will fight!"
Sasuke's other eyebrow rose as he watched Choji turned himself into a human canon ball. "Fire release: Grand fireball technique." Sasuke stated easily while making a few hand signs.
Sasuke's fireball encased Choji, and stopped him from moving. Choji popped back to normal size; his body was encased in fire.
"I'm going to stop this match," Hayate stated as he appeared in front of Choji. Sasuke had a sinister smirk plastered to his face as he made a few more hand signals. "I said stop!"
Sakura appeared in front of Sasuke with a glowing green hand; she placed it on his forehead. Sasuke leaned slump against her; Sakura was close enough to see that the curse mark had stopped expanding. For some unexplained reason, Sakura could sense when Sakura lost control.
"He's just tired," Sakura commented as she walked him over to the balcony. Kakashi appeared on the other side of Sasuke, and helped him up the stairs.
"You said nothing was going to happen," Kakashi muttered under his breath; he glared sternly toward Sakura.
"Nothing did happen," Sakura stated as she and Kakashi leaned Sasuke against the wall. "It was just about too…"
"Sakura…"
"Look, the next match is about to begin," Sakura said with a sly smirk.
Hayate sighed as he whipped his forehead. "The winner of this match is Sasuke Uchiha," Hayate stated. He glanced up to the board as names began to flash again. He glanced towards the group when the names flashed. "Hinata Hyuuga and Neji Hyuuga."
---
Sakura leaned against the railing as she watched Naruto beat Kiba. "Good job, Naruto," Sakura stated as he walked up the stairs with a large smile. Sakura smiled largely when Naruto wrapped him up in a bear hug; he swung her around.
A newly awakened Sasuke smirked next to the two. "Good job, dobe."
"We'll let the next match begin," Hayate stated as the medics helped Kiba out of the room. The board began flashing names, and soon enough two appeared. "Sakura Haruno and Temari Sabaku."
"This should be fun," Temari stated as she leaped from the balcony.
"You can't lose, Temari," Kankuro commented from above. Temari waved her hand carelessly as she looked to Sakura.
Sakura untangled herself from Naruto's embrace. "Kick ass," Naruto muttered in her ear before she leaped off the balcony.
Sakura nodded her head toward Hayate, and he smirked. "Let this match begin."
"I should warn you," Temari stated while opening her fan. It was large, her fan, it was larger than her body. The fan had a weird pattern; were three maroon moons on it. "You do not stand a chance against me, but I'll give you a hint… beat me before the moons disappear."
"Well then it will have to end before that, hm?" Sakura asked as her eyes glowed forest green. She watched as Temari brought chakra into the fan.
"Good luck with hitting me," Temari stated and snapped her wrist. With a snap of her wrist, Temari sent a gust of wind toward Sakura.
Sakura placed chakra into her feet as she allowed the wind to gust around her. The wind slowly stopped, and Sakura stood in the same place.
Temari's eyes widened. "If that is all you have," Sakura stated. She ran chakra into her fists and watched as one of Temari's moons disappeared. "I only have two moons left to defeat you."
Sakura disappeared before the group of ninjas' eyes.
Except up on the balcony, one lone Sharingan eye watched as his student race through the room; he had a small smile tugging on his lips.
"Maybe I should attack from behind," Sakura whispered into Temari's ear as she appeared behind him. Temari lashed her fan back behind her, and frowned when the fan only met with air. "I am faster than you think…"
Sakura was already behind Temari again. She sent a fist racing towards Temari's back; Temari only move was to place her fan in front of her back…
A sickening crack sounded through out the room; several nins gasped. Sakura smirked as she leaped back away from the now broken fan; her fist also broken in the process.
Temari stared wide eyed at the pink haired girl before her; her fan lay broken in pieces beside her; two moons could still be seen.
Sakura's hand slowly began to glow emerald, and she placed it against her broken one. Within minutes the pain lessened, and Sakura's hands were filled with offensive,blue chakra once more.
Temari's eyes still rested on her broken fan; Sakura appeared behind her, and tapped the back of her neck.
"…The winner is Sakura Haruno." Hayate stated with surprise.
"WHAT?!" Temari's sensei screamed in outrage. Sakura allowed Temari to lean against her as she fell unconscious. Sakura lay her down on the ground gently. "Temari was not suppose to lose!"
Kankuro appeared down in front of Sakura, he grabbed Temari and walked up to the stairs; a glare set in his features. Sakura sighed, and walked back to the balcony.
"You kicked ass Sakura-Chan!" Naruto yelled as he grabbed Sakura in another bear hug. "I couldn't even see you, you were so fast!"
"We'll continue with the rest of the exams now," Hayate said with a cough. The board yet again shuffled names. "Tenten and Shino."
---
"Now that the preliminaries are over, I would like to pick who you will be fighting in the third exams," Hayate stated. "May the nine finalist step forward, please."
Dosu, Shino, Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji, Kankuro, and Gaara all stepped forward. "You will each grab a number from this hat. The number corresponds with who you will fight during the third, and final part of the chunnin exams."
The group of nin stepped forward, and grabbed their numbers.
Dosu-1
Gaara-2
Shino-3
Kankuro-4
Naruto-5
Neji-6
Sakura-7
Shikamaru-8
Sasuke-9
"To get into the round, numbers 1 and 2 will have to fight before continuing." Hayate explained as he looked at the numbers. "Whoever wins will then fight number 9."
"Do we all understand?" Sarutobi asked as he walked next to Hayate. "You will all have one month to prepare for this part of the exams. Congratulations to everyone that has gotten this far; I will be seeing you in a months time."